Flowing across the spaces between us
Shape Our Water presents Raindrop Run at the 2024 Seattle Design Festival. Photo by Trevor Dykstra.
Water is a point of connection across the differences that can (artificially) divide us. Our shared experiences of rain from the sky or the bodies of water that shape our landscape are some of the tangible ways we are all connected by Seattle’s waters.
Celebrating these connections is an important part of Shape Our Water’s long-term planning effort. This summer’s Raindrop Run experience at the Seattle Design Festival – where community members designed stormwater management solutions during an interactive game – beautifully illuminated the things we all share.
Connection is essential, but as Raindrop Run demonstrated, co-design is where the power for change begins. Shape Our Water creates joyful, inclusive collaboration spaces like Raindrop Run because we believe the best solutions can be found for complex water management challenges by working together.
A good example of this principle in action is Seattle Public Utilities’ fledging RainCity Partnerships program – an effort to support community and environmental health by changing paved surfaces on private land to permeable green stormwater infrastructure. RainCity Partnerships was directly shaped by community priorities for program investment in entrepreneurship and wealth building. Ultimately, the program will invest in projects that provide multiple benefits in environmental justice communities, such as developing a skilled local workforce while also increasing green space.
This kind of initiative wouldn’t be possible without a team that includes public, private, and community organizations working together. Ultimately, our region’s most persistent needs are often beyond the ability of one person, organization, or government department to meet alone. That’s why Shape Our Water will continue to create space for non-traditional and cross-sector collaboration to happen.
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Every fall, stormwater management is top of mind for Seattle Public Utilities and for the communities we serve. One of the ways we partner with our customers is in removing leaves that block drains, which can cause flooding.
To support customers in keeping drains clear, SPU does not charge extra yard waste fees in November – households with current food and yard waste collection can put out up to 10 bags of extra yard waste per collection day for free from November 1 to 30.
More information on free leaf pickups in November for SPU customers >
Tips on preparing for wet weather, such as clearing blocked drains >
